Note - I bought a sling for £15 off ebay with steel embedded in the strap, sounds great but not very good. Works very well just carrying around but the pad slips off the shoulder when bringing the camera up. Pain! I don't know if blackrapids do that?

I've been looking to replace the standard strap that comes with my Canon DSLR (the one with "EOS Digital" emblazoned on it, which I think looks tacky) but had not considered this single point type. It certainly looks comfortable but I wonder about carrying the camera dangling at your side like that. Does it get more bashed about than the standard "carry slung at the front" method?

Note - I bought a sling for £15 off ebay with steel embedded in the strap, sounds great but not very good. Works very well just carrying around but the pad slips off the shoulder when bringing the camera up. Pain! I don't know if blackrapids do that?

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No, they have an adjustable locking mechanism so the camera is "locked" at the hip but is free to slide up into the shooting position; the shoulder pad is curved and stays still.

I've been looking to replace the standard strap that comes with my Canon DSLR (the one with "EOS Digital" emblazoned on it, which I think looks tacky) but had not considered this single point type. It certainly looks comfortable but I wonder about carrying the camera dangling at your side like that. Does it get more bashed about than the standard "carry slung at the front" method?

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Mine never have, you can pull the sling round in front of you if you're only carrying one so it hangs over your crotch or belly depending on the length of the strap. In some ways I think it's safer, as it hangs near your hand so that you can easily protect it rather than having it bouncing about on your chest.

If you're using two cameras you can also sling them on opposite sides of your body for that 'Mexican Bandito' look.

There's an underarm strap that helps to stabilise it in the same way as the sports model. It's not been a problem for me but then I'm not doing ninja cartwheels with my camera.

The big advantage I find is that when I bend or crouch down, my camera isn't swinging about in the way it did on the standard strap. I'm of Lurch-like proportions and when small children or ground-level subjects are involved, a free-swinging couple of kilos of magnesium case and glass are not helpful.

Edited to add Amazon link. The underarm strap I was talking about is the rather ****-sounding BRAD.

Mine never have, you can pull the sling round in front of you if you're only carrying one so it hangs over your crotch or belly depending on the length of the strap. In some ways I think it's safer, as it hangs near your hand so that you can easily protect it rather than having it bouncing about on your chest.

If you're using two cameras you can also sling them on opposite sides of your body for that 'Mexican Bandito' look.

Click to expand...

In winter I like to hide the camera under my jacket-it's Glasgow ffs-then whip it out when required; lot harder with a standard strap. Having said that, I had a standard replacement strap OP/TECH USA Reporter Strap which was great, might suit scaryspice better.

I use a Sun Sniper strap. I tend to carry it with a hand over/slightly under to stop it catching children of the right height under the ear. When the camera is needed, like the Black Rapid, it slides easily up. The shoulder strap is curved and there is a thin steel cable running through the strap to foil (hopefully) anyone coming up from behind and trying to cut the strap and make of with the camera.

+1 for black rapid - been using one now for several months - done weddings, photoshoots, and just general wandering round with it - superbly comfortable, even under a rucksack and no back/neck pain whatsoever. I thought they were a bit pricey till I tried one - then it was one of those 'why have I never bought one of these before' moments.

I've been looking to replace the standard strap that comes with my Canon DSLR (the one with "EOS Digital" emblazoned on it, which I think looks tacky) but had not considered this single point type. It certainly looks comfortable but I wonder about carrying the camera dangling at your side like that. Does it get more bashed about than the standard "carry slung at the front" method?

I use the strap that came with the camera and a nifty little bag I bought from Jessops way back in the mists of time (a camera bag, I think it was called).
This, combined with a little bit of fore thought has got me a fair few decent pictures over the years, saved me a few quid over buying unnecessary Gucci kit and stopped me looking like a twat when all I want to do was take a pic of a pretty sunset. (AFS problem not withstanding).